1. Field of the Invention
This invention in general relates to stereoscopic photography and in particular to an optical system for simultaneously recording stereo image pairs in lenticular type film and to a viewing system by which the stereo pairs recorded in the lenticular film can be projected onto a viewing screen and seen in proper stereo relief with spectacles having orthogonally polarized lenses.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Stereoscopic photography is well-known in the art and is based on the principle that two photographs of a subject, taken from viewpoints approximately separated by the interlocular distance of the human eye, will merge into one three-dimensional image of the subject if the photographs are viewed in such a way that each eye sees only the view appropriate to it. The two photographs of the separate views of the subject are sometimes referred to as a "stereo pair", and those skilled in the art have provided a variety of methods and associated apparatus for creating and reconstructing stereo pairs. For example, stereo pairs may be recorded separately on different pieces of film or on opposite halfs of a single piece of film and have been recorded sequentially and simultaneously using either film arrangement. With simultaneous methods of recording, however, subject motion is not a problem as it is with the sequential method. Therefore, simultaneous recording is usually preferred and has been accomplished by using identical cameras fixed together at the required distance and having their shutters synchronously released.
Cameras exclusively for use in stereoscopic photography are also well-known and typically have a pair of matched lenses with coupled focusing movements, diaphragms, and shutters to assure that the stereo pair is identical except for the separation of viewpoints. Beamsplitters in stereo cameras also have been employed with a single lens and here the usual arrangement is to have the separate views imaged by the objective lens on opposite halves of a single film frame.
It is also known to utilize two matched lenses to focus two images corresponding to separated views in the same film through a lenticular screen. Moreover, it is also known in the stereoscopic art to encode left and right views of a scene with orthogonal polarizers and to expose lenticular type film to such encoded light to create stereo pairs either in black and white or in color by exposing through appropriate filters.
However, none of the prior art appears to achieve the creation and reconstruction of stereo pairs by simultaneously encoding and recording on a lenticular type film a stereo pair using only a single objective lens and subsequently reconstructing the stereoscopic views still using only a single lens.
Therefore, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an optical system by which a stereo pair can be simultaneously encoded and recorded on lenticular type film with the use of only a single objective lens and subsequently reconstructed with a viewer having only a single projection lens.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a stereoscopic motion picture camera and viewing system in which the stereo pair are perfectly synchronized and in which there is no image jitter.
Other objects of the invention will, in part, be obvious and will, in part, appear hereinafter. The invention accordingly comprises the apparatus possessing the construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which are exemplified in the following detailed disclosure and the methods inherent in the use of the apparatus described.